How to delete iPhone apps from a Mac (2026)

Which way should you use?

It depends on how many apps you're removing and how much help you want choosing them. For a handful, iPhone Storage on the phone is enough, and it's the only place that shows when you last opened each app. For a big clear-out from the Mac, Apple Configurator is free and removes several apps at once, but gives you little to decide with. AppSheriff also removes several at once, and tells you which apps are abandoned or no longer on the App Store.

Paid phone-manager suites such as iMazing can also remove several apps at once. In them, apps are one feature among many, next to backups and file transfers.

How do you delete apps in iPhone Storage?

iPhone Storage lists every app by size and shows when you last used each one, which makes it the best place to spot apps you've stopped opening. It deletes one app at a time.

1. On the iPhone, open Settings, then General, then iPhone Storage. On an iPad it's called iPad Storage.
2. Wait for the list to fill in. The biggest apps are at the top.
3. Tap an app, then tap Delete App and confirm.
4. Go back and repeat for the next app.

You can also delete an app from the Home Screen: touch and hold it, tap Remove App, then Delete App. Apple covers both in its support articles on deleting apps and on checking your iPhone's storage.

How do you delete apps with iPhone Mirroring?

iPhone Mirroring shows your iPhone's screen in a window on the Mac, and you use it with the trackpad or mouse. It needs macOS 15 or later and iOS 18 or later, and it supports the Home Screen's jiggle mode, so you can remove apps without picking up the phone. It's still one app at a time.

1. Open iPhone Mirroring on your Mac.
2. On the mirrored Home Screen, click and hold an app, then choose Remove App.
3. Choose Delete App, then confirm.
4. Repeat for each app you want to remove.

iPhone Mirroring isn't available in every country or region. MacRumors covered the arrival of jiggle mode in iPhone Mirroring in August 2024.

How do you delete several apps with Apple Configurator?

Apple Configurator is Apple's free app for setting up iPhones and iPads in bulk, made for IT departments. Removing apps needs no device management and no business account: connect the phone, select several apps and remove them in one go. It shows basic details for each app, but nothing about whether its developer still updates it or whether it's still on the App Store.

1. Install Apple Configurator from the Mac App Store and open it.
2. Connect the iPhone with a USB cable, unlock it, and tap Trust if it asks.
3. Double-click the iPhone, then choose Apps.
4. Command-click the apps you want to remove, click Remove, and confirm.

There's a step-by-step walkthrough of mass-uninstalling apps with Apple Configurator (March 2026), and Apple's own Apple Configurator User Guide.

How do you delete many apps with AppSheriff?

AppSheriff is a Mac app that lists every app on your iPhone or iPad with its size and App Store status, so you can start with the dead ones: apps that are no longer on the App Store, abandoned by their developer, or already offloaded by iOS. Then you select as many as you like and delete them together.

1. Download AppSheriff and open it on a Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later.
2. Connect the iPhone or iPad, on iOS or iPadOS 26 or 27, with a USB cable. Unlock it and tap Trust.
3. Open the Not on App Store, Abandoned, Stale or Offloaded tab, or click the Size column to put the biggest apps first.
4. Select apps with Command-click or Shift-click, then click Delete in the toolbar or press the Delete key.
5. Check the list in the confirmation sheet, which shows each app's size and the space you'll get back, then click Delete.

Each app leaves the list as soon as the phone confirms it's gone. iOS's own apps sit in a separate System tab and can't be deleted. The free download lists every app and counts how many fall under each status; seeing which ones, and deleting them, takes the license: $10, once, no subscription.

What should you check before deleting?

If an app holds anything you want to keep, export it from inside the app first. AppSheriff marks apps that are gone from the App Store as Not on App Store, so you can see which ones you won't be able to reinstall. More on those in what happens to apps removed from the App Store.

Why can't Finder delete iPhone apps?

Because Apple took app management off the Mac in 2017. iTunes 12.7, released on 12 September 2017, removed the App Store and the list of apps, so that apps would be managed on the device itself. When Finder took over syncing in macOS Catalina, it kept media syncing and backups, but the app list never came back.

Should you offload apps instead?

Offloading removes an app but keeps its documents and data, and its icon stays on the Home Screen. Tap the icon and the app downloads again, with your data where you left it. It frees less space than deleting, because the data stays, and it only works while the app is still on the App Store. iOS can also do it for you: with Offload Unused Apps turned on, it offloads apps you don't use when storage runs low, as Apple explains in Manage storage on iPhone.

AppSheriff doesn't offload apps, but it shows which ones iOS has already offloaded, so you can decide whether to bring them back or delete them for good.

Sources

• Apple Support: deleting apps, and what happens to subscriptions
• Apple Support: checking the storage on iPhone and iPad
• Apple iPhone User Guide: Manage storage on iPhone
• Apple Configurator User Guide
• Mass-uninstalling iOS apps with Apple Configurator (March 2026)
• MacRumors: jiggle mode in iPhone Mirroring (13 August 2024)
• TechCrunch: iTunes 12.7 removes the App Store (12 September 2017)